Phun with Phyllo

 I have an announcement……..

Are you ready?

Sure?

Wanna hear?

Ok, so I’ve decided to stop riding the bus. I know not earth shattering news or anything but I’m excited. With my new schedule at work (i.e. having to actually take an hour lunch break), the bus schedule is just not working in my favor. When I get out of work, I have to wait another 20 to 30 mins for the next bus to come because Charlotte is non-public transportation friendly. A bus every 30 to 40 minutes on a work day? No sir, not cool. I figure since I got a raise at work, I can cough up the $50 difference for parking it would as opposed to buying my bus pass each month and it’s only two blocks away from work. Plus, I can park there on the weekends and at night if I want to go out so that will save me some money over time. I rarely go Uptown since you have to pay to park everywhere so maybe I will hit it up more often? We’ll see. I just needed to say it aloud since I’m excited.

Another thing that I’m excited about it my swag I got in the mail yesterday

Wai Lana Yoga Mat and Metro Bag

My company has a rewards system which is a little more incentive to do a good job at work. My points were expiring soon and this girl has been in need of a yoga mat badly. Instead of spending $40 of my own money, I am letting work buy it for me.

I enjoyed reading everyone’s comments from yesterday’s post–I’m happy to see I’m not the only one who has an issue with finding boots. And if you lied about it—no worries, you made me feel better so there’s your good deed for the day. Lincoln also appreciates the comments about how cute he looks in his Howl-O-Ween costume. I believe “Arrrrrrrr woof woof” were his exact words.

Another day of learning new systems at work. Oh yeah, I didn’t mention they were DOS based systems huh? Because it’s 1985 and I work for one of the largest banks in the company, why not? The good thing though is that I am starting with nine other people so we are all in the same position with having to learn new work and systems. And I got to take an hour and a half lunch today! Unheard of! Any, my coworkers invited me to go to lunch—-my old team never went to lunch together. Instead, we choose to slave away at our desks trying to hit funding deadlines and such so this is just fabulous. I walked over with a couple of the guys to Harris Teeter since it is $2.99 sub day and then we walked to an open patio area near our office. If someone could tell me how the conversation with two men who I just met yesterday turned to my love life (or lack thereof), I would to know. One of the guys asked me why I wasn’t married which in turn I came back with my normal response to that question: “I don’t know but if you would like my mom’s phone number, I’m sure you all could have a nice conversation about it” Don’t worry, I say it with a smile and people think it’s cute 🙂 Regardless, it felt good to just get out of the office, sit in the sun and converse. Must do again!

Once again, I played the role of Martha tonight. I saw this recipe for Upside Down Mushroom Tartlets in the latest issue of Martha Stewart Everyday Foods which is one of my favorite cooking magazines.  I love mushroom and the word tartlet intrigues me  so I was sure to buy all the ingredients needed for it during this weekends shopping excursion. Seeing that it only has seven ingredients, I had most on hand (extra virgin olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper) but I forgot to buy Gruyère cheese this weekend—mostly because I’ve never cooked with it and had no clue what to look for. I had mozzarella on hand from making my lasagne so I subbed that but I am sure the Gruyère would’ve been divine.

I started with cooking the shallots and mushrooms on the stovetop.

Then spooned into a greased muffin pan

Topped with phyllo dough

I got phyllo because super ghetto Wal-Mart I went to didn’t have puff pastry dough….or their employees had no clue what I was asking for. They had phyllo and I figure it was similar enough so when in Wal-Mart Rome

Then let bake for 25 minutes

The result?

Gorgeous little babies.

However they didn’t gel well together—not sure if it was because of the lack of Gruyère or what but they kept falling apart.

It didn’t stop me from eating the entire pan though. I thought I had some roasted acorn squash in the fridge and had my heart set on making mashed acorn squash as a side but no go and I was not in the mood to wait another 45 minutes to let that bad boy cook.

It was so on though. I topped with grated parmesan cheese because cheese makes everything better. The taste was great and I would definitely try this again but will be sure to have a side dish set next time for a more satiating meal. All in all, a taste bud and vegetarian friendly dish.

Now the question is–what do I do with all this phyllo?? I have plenty to go around and have no clue what to do with it—suggestions please!

And can anyone tell me why I love this commercial and keep singing Pookie Bear to Lincoln?

Off to watch Millionaire Matchmaker and enjoy a big bowl of popcorn with hot sauce. I was telling my new coworkers how this is my favorite way to eat popcorn and a few of them found it disgusting. Oh well, more for me.

Stay tuned…..there may be a giveaway tomorrow, just sayin’.